*The Cleveland Browns are committed to the community. Through First and Ten, the Dawg Pound is encouraged to share what they are doing to give back. Get inspired and check out what these fans are doing to help their community:
*How do you give back?#give10
Name: Melissa C.
Hometown: Walbridge, OH
How they give back:
Melissa attended the first PTO meeting of the school year when her daughter started school and got involved right away with doing their marketing and fundraising. She's been the PTO Secretary for 4 years, and participating for 5. She enjoys the PTO because it is very successful in getting people engaged and in having an open forum for teachers and parents to connect and collaborate. She has tried many new things in terms of community involvement, by hosting a 5K, Science Nights, and Movie Nights, they continue to grow in attendance at events, and Melissa is happy to think they are finally seen as a participating organization instead of just a fundraising organization. The impact they have on the students in the elementary school is the reason she keeps volunteering her time.
Name: Joe K.
Hometown: Independence, OH
How they give back:
Joe created Golf Fore Autism three years ago. He has a personal connection to autism and says that everyone who volunteers has in some way been affected by autism as well. It really gets all of their heart strings. He enjoys the fact that everyone that continues to be a part of Golf Fore Autism knows everything is heart based. There is no monetary compensation, everything they do goes back to the cause of autism. Each member agrees it's important to volunteer their time to something greater than themselves. They also agree that keeping things community based is largely important as well. Joe believes the reason so many rally with Golf Fore Autism is everyone is equally important, they all have a say in how they do things. They promote the cause and bring awareness about autism. Joe says it's very humbling listen to volunteers speak on facts about autism. Three years ago, they wouldn't have had that knowledge.
Name: Amanda W.
Hometown: New Philadelphia, OH
How they give back:
Amanda is involved with the annual MS Walk Rock N Bowl because of her personal connection to the cause. She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2012 and experienced everything that comes along with it, firsthand. Because of the disease she wanted to inspire others that also had MS to not give up and show their strength through adversity and not let the disease get the best of them. Amanda has been a part of this organization for three years in which she has been able to spread the message about how MS is a life altering disease, while offering support to keep others, strong and informed of what to expect and what help is available. Amanda has volunteered at both the MS Walk in Ohio and in in Huntsville Alabama where she has friends who also suffer from MS like herself.
Name: Jackie Gaier
Hometown: Piqua, Ohio
How they give back:
Jackie gives back through the Miami County Bark For Life event. She lost her mom to cancer six years ago and chooses to continue in the fight against cancer because of her personal connection. She will always continue to support the American Cancer Society because she says it's a terrible disease to lose someone to. Her driving passion for these noncompetitive walk events is to find the cure for cancer. Jackie's favorite part about volunteering for this event and working with others who share the same heart for cancer survivors is hearing a story of someone who is now cancer free. She feels this makes it all worthwhile. While she does this annual event each summer, she is also a valued volunteer at the St. Boniface Catholic Church.
Name: Mary G.
Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio
How they give back:
Mary is an advanced yoga instructor who teaches professionally each week. This month she will host a couple of specialized sessions at Inner Bliss Yoga Studio in Downtown Cleveland. She has titled the project: Open Flow. The classes held at the new yoga studio downtown are for those who may not have tried yoga before and are looking to get into it. Proceeds will go to Zenworks, a local nonprofit. This is her first time volunteering with Inner Bliss Yoga. She just got the idea of holding an open studio session, a free flow, and she wanted to host it as a way to give back to the community. Zenworks is a really great resource in the community making yoga and mindfulness accessible to young people, particularly under privileged, underserved kids
Interested in signing up your volunteer group for First and Ten? Group forms available! Click here***http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/community/firstandten.html**** to learn more about how to #give10*
Follow @BrownsGiveBack on Twitter and Instagram and tell us what you are doing to help others using #give10 to unite us all as Browns fans. Give 10 hours, help your community.
The Browns are dedicated to #give10 through the team's First and Ten initiative. Launched in June 2014, the Cleveland Browns First and Ten campaign is the team's community program, established to inspire fans to volunteer in and help their communities throughout the world by volunteering for 10 hours each year. Since its inception, Browns fans have committed to volunteering more than 1 million hours to impact their communities by pledging to #give10. Through First and Ten, the Browns are the only NFL club to promote a long-term volunteering program that unifies the team and its entire fan base, with the goal of impacting every individual's city across the globe, as well as the franchise's local community. All Browns fans are encouraged to join the volunteering effort by signing the First and Ten pledge on the team's website and by sharing their stories with #give10
